Page:An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals - Hume (1751).djvu/59

 inferior Strength, both of Body and Mind, that they were incapable of all Resistance, and could never, upon the highest Provocation, make us feel the Effects of their Resentment; the necessary Consequence, I think, is, that we should be bound, by the Laws of Humanity, to give gentle Usage to these Creatures, but should not, properly speaking, lie under any Restraint of Justice with Regard to them, nor could they possess any Right or Property, exclusive of such arbitrary Lords. Our Intercourse with them could not be call'd Society, which supposes a Degree of Equality; but absolute Command on the one Side, and servile Obedience on the other. Whatever we covet, they must instantly resign: Our Permission is the only Tenure, by which they hold their Possessions: Our Compassion and Kindness the only Check, by which they curb our lawless Will: And as no Inconvenience ever results from the Exercise of a Power, so firmly establish'd in Nature, the Restraints of Justice and Property, being totally useless, would never have Place, in so unequal a Confederacy.

is plainly the Situation of Men with regard to Animals; and how far these may be said to possess Reason, I leave it to others to determine. The great Superiority of civiliz'd Europeans above barbarous Indians, tempted us to imagine ourselves on